A man has died of a suspected drug overdose after Sydney’s Transmission Festival. Source: Transmission Festival, Wikimedia Commons
A 26-year-old man has died of a suspected drug overdose and six people have been charged with supplying drugs after Sydney’s Transmission Festival on the weekend.
Police say the man died after arriving at Bankstown Hospital at around 1:30am on Sunday morning. The man had attended Transmission Festival in the Sydney Showground on Saturday night.
New South Wales Police said in a statement, “About 3am on Sunday … officers from Bankstown Police Area Command were called to Bankstown Hospital to investigate the circumstances of the death of a 26-year-old man.”
“Police were told the man — who had earlier attended the music festival — presented at the hospital just before 1:30am for a suspected drug overdose.”
The festival took place on Saturday amid record high temperatures, reaching 36.6 degrees Celsius.
Due to the large crowd and the extreme temperatures, the festival was deemed a “high risk event” under the NSW Music Festivals Act 2019.
This act requires festival organisers to have safety management plans in place if they are high risk events.
Of the 18,000 people who attended the festival, 130 were treated at the venue for drug-related illnesses as well as heat exhaustion, and 12 were admitted to hospital.
Six men at the festival were arrested for supplying drugs, including a 23-year-old man in possession of 253 MDMA tablets, and a 21-year-old man found with 149 MDMA tablets.
Investigations into the man’s death continue, and anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers.
